CDW National Scoping Study

Community Development Workers for BME Mental Health

The Embedding Sustainable Change Report to the National Institute for Mental Health in England National Workforce Programme and the Department of Health Programme for Delivering Race Equality in Mental Healthcare by Dr Reg Walker and Professor Gary Craig Elliott Walker Consultancy March 2009.

The role of Community Development Worker (CDW) for mental health in Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities was introduced in 2004 as one of the mainstays of the Government's programme for Delivering Race Equality in Mental Healthcare (DRE). This report presents the findings of research into how the role is being implemented in practice and issues affecting its sustainability. It was jointly commissioned by the DRE programme and NIHME, the National Institute for Mental Health in England, through its National Workforce Programme. The research covered nearly half of the CDWs in post, about one-third of CDW-employing organisations, and 20 other key informants. This Summary highlights the key findings in relation to the employment of the CDWs, and then outlines recommendations for embedding the role on a more sustainable basis.Click here to read more.

Organizational frameworks for implementing the community development approach within Delivering Race Equality (DRE) in Mental Healthcare

The role of CDW for BME mental health was set out in the Policy Implementation Guides issued in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Research into how the role is being implemented in practice was carried out in between June and December last year. This document has been produced in response to one of the recommendations arising from that research. It is intended to help to sharpen the focus of the role, and to outline the kind of organizational frameworks that need to be in place for implementing the community development dimension of the programme for Delivering Race Equality in mental healthcare (DRE). Click here to read more.

Increasing Access and providing culturally sensitive Psychological Therapy for South Asian women in Telford and Wrekin 2009

Aims of the project were to Increase access, create awareness of psychological therapies, create less fear of mental health services, minimise the risk of the onset of severe mental illness and therefore a reduction in the rate of people from BME community to psychiatric inpatient units and to give a more balanced range of effective therapies such as peer support and counselling treatments that is culturally appropriate and effective. Click here to read more.